Personal computer

About: Personal computer is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 58809 publications have been published within this topic receiving 800814 citations. The topic is also known as: PC.

A comparison of the standard and the computerized versions of the Well-being Questionnaire (WBQ) and the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ)

Abstract: In the present study, the equivalence of paper and pencil assessment versus computer assessment of two self-administered questionnaires was investigated by means of a randomized cross-over design. Therefore, 105 out-patients with diabetes were invited to participate; 76 patients completed both the computer and the paper and pencil version of the Well-being Questionnaire (WBQ) and the Diabetes Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (DTSQ) in a randomized order, with a mean interval of 7 days. The scales showed high test-retest correlations and the means, dispersions, kurtosis and skewness were found to be approximately the same in both versions. In both modes of assessment, the depression and the energy scale proved to be sensitive for carry-over effects, resulting in better well-being scores at the second measurement. Almost all subjects reported that using the personal computer in the realization of a questionnaire was easy. It is concluded that the paper and pencil and the computerized versions of the WBQ and DTSQ can be considered equivalent. Therefore, the norms and cut-off scores obtained from paper and pencil assessments can be used in computerized versions of the WBQ and DTSQ and vice versa.

Smart clothing: the shift to wearable computing

Abstract: S mart clothing—-the combination of mobile multimedia, wireless communication, and wearable computing—-offers the potential to make personal computers even more personal. In the early 1980s, when I first experimented with wearable computing and wireless communications, people thought some of the apparatus I wore looked quite strange, so I didn’t wear it much; it was both physically and socially awkward. People were shocked by the visceral combination of human and machine. Even later, with the advent of portable and laptop computers, people were still taken aback by the combination of a human wearing a computer— there was something markedly different in the way others perceived a system attached to my body rather than carried in a briefcase. When I did wear it, I basked in a tremendous sense of self-empowerment, for it seemed the computer was more part of me than it was a separate tool. My wearable computer was not the first with wireless communications. Thomas Bass, in his book The Eudaemonic Pie, describes shoe-based computers of the 1970s designed and built by physicists and other researchers in California, for the purpose of assisting them at playing roulette. It was remarkable they were able to design these computer systems to be so unobtrusive as to pass the ultimate test of unobtrusiveness—the casino test—-where they would survive the scrutiny of croupiers and pit bosses. My goals were different: I was more interested in functionality and capability than in concealment, and ended up with a more cumbersome system, although over the years, it has become smaller and lighter to the point I can now wear it for extended periods. On my hat, an antenna wirelessly connects to the Internet through a network of antennas I’ve erected on rooftops of various buildings, including the tallest in Cambridge in order to get some degree of connectivity from nearby cities. This gives me Internet access but because the system is experimental, it is down some of the time, so I am not always able to stay online. Having an Internet-connected computer wired within my clothing has allowed me to read my email via my smart glasses (eyeglasses with miniature sensor array and cathode-ray tube), say, while standing in line at the bank. The miniature cameras and computer screen inside my eyeglasses provide me with a dual-adaptation space. Unlike the standard multimedia computer, cameras and microphones point where I’m looking, not at me. This provides the computer with my perspective, and permits me to explore some of the more fundamental issues in visual memory and computer-mediated reality. Other sensors such as infrared and radar, enhance and extend my sensory capabilities, allowing me to explore some new concepts in synthetic synesthesia, which might someday be of assistance to the visually challenged. In the future, perhaps we’ll become cyborgian—-our clothing will significantly enhance our capabilities without requiring any conscious thought or effort. With the advent of the World-Wide Web, I’ve explored connectivity of a new form. If you take a look at http:// wearcam.org, you may be looking at whatever I am looking at right now. The Wearable WireSmart Clothing: The Shift to Wearable Computing ❖ S t e v e M a n n V i e w p o i n t

Treating disordered speech and voice in Parkinson's disease online: a randomized controlled non‐inferiority trial

Abstract: Background: Telerehabilitation may be a feasible solution to the current problems faced by people with Parkinson's disease in accessing speech pathology services. Aim: To investigate the validity and reliability of online delivery of the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LSVT®) for the speech and voice disorder associated with Parkinson's disease. Method & Procedures: Thirty-four participants with Parkinson's disease and mild-to-moderate hypokinetic dysarthria took part in the randomized controlled non-inferiority laboratory trial and received the LSVT® in either the online or the face-to-face environment. Online sessions were conducted via two personal computer-based videoconferencing systems with real-time and store-and-forward capabilities operating on a 128 kbit/s Internet connection. Participants were assessed pre- and post-treatment on acoustic measures of mean vocal sound pressure level, phonation time, maximum fundamental frequency range, and perceptual measures of voice, articulatory precision and speech intelligibility. Outcomes & Results: Non-inferiority of the online LSVT® modality was confirmed for the primary outcome measure of mean change in sound pressure level on a monologue task. Additionally, non-significant main effects for the LSVT® environment, dysarthria severity, and interaction effects were obtained for all outcomes measures. Significant improvements following the LSVT® were also noted on the majority of measures. The LSVT® was successfully delivered online, although some networking difficulties were encountered on a few occasions. High participant satisfaction was reported overall. Conclusions & Implications: Online treatment for hypokinetic dysarthria associated with Parkinson's disease appears to be clinically valid and reliable. Suggestions for future research are outlined.

Secure on-line PC postage metering system

Abstract: The present invention is a system for providing secure access and execution of application software stored on a first computer by a second computer using a communication device while a communication link is maintained between the first and second computers. More specifically, the present invention is a secure software rental system. The system enables a user in a remote location using a personal computer and a modem to connect to a central rental facility, transfer application software from the central rental facility to the remote computer, and execute the application software on the remote computer while electronically connected to the central rental facility. When the communication link between the central rental facility and the remote computer is interrupted or terminated, the application software no longer executes on the remote computer. The application software stored on the central rental facility is integrated with the header software to provide a security feature of the present invention. The use of header software allows the user to execute the application software only while the user is electronically connected to the central rental facility continuously. In one embodiment, the rental software is an on-line postage metering program. In this embodiment, a user computer and a user printer, electronically connected to the PSD server and the USPS computer, constitute an on-line electronic postage meter. The on-line electronic postage meter allows a remote user to print postage using a local printer in a secure manner. A printed postage appears as a two-dimensional bar-code that includes a unique serial number, mail delivery point information, and the amount of postage.